Six Fun And Interesting Facts About Skateboarding

When I found out my third child was a boy, I cried! I had two girls before and I felt pretty confident about raising girls. Boys on the other hand I knew nothing about, at least not rearing them. Although it has been a huge learning curve raising Henry, it has also been the most fun I could have imagined. Henry has helped me get in touch with my playful side and has let me be a kid again. We have played in the mud, climbed huge play structures, hunted for lizards and a whole lot of other gnarly things. These were definitely not things I did with the girls! Now that Henry has gotten older, his toys have gotten bigger. I did not ride on a skateboard and when Henry asked for one, I knew so little about them. I decided to do some research on them and found some cool information on them. Here are my favorite facts:

6 Things About Skateboarding You May Not Know

The Early Days: The first skateboards have been dated back to the turn of the century. They were made of milk crates which were nailed to a wooden base and they had handles.

The First Commercial Board: The first skateboard sold to the public was in 1959 and it was called the “Roller Derby Skateboard” and it had wheels made of clay.

Banned Boards: From 1978-1989, skateboards were banned in Norway due to the alarming number of related injuries.

New Wheels: Frank Nasworthy added polyurethane wheel technology to skateboards in the early 1970’s. This completely changed the feel of riding a skateboard.

Skate Parks: The first skate park was built in Florida in 1976. This not only gave skaters a place to ride, but opened the door to a future sport many would go crazy for.

Military Use: in the late 1990’s, the military used skateboards in their urban-combat military maneuver exercises to detect sniper fire and tripwires.

When it comes to choosing the right board for yourself or your child, you need to find a company you can depend on. If you think about it, this company is making a product in which you place your very well being in their hands. If you buy a poorly constructed board, you should move to Norway and start a new ban on the boards as you are for sure going to get a drastic injury. Instead of going that drastic, just buy your skateboards from Sunset Skateboards and you are golden. The Costa Mesa, CA based company was founded by a couple of buddies who had a passion for skateboarding. It just made sense when they reunited after college to put their passion into their own skateboard company. Henry was sent the Sunset “ROOT BEER FLOAT” skateboard, which retails for $100. This board has a crystal clear polycarbonate (PC) deck in a root beer brown color. With the Flare LED Wheels, you can ride during the day and into the night. The Polycarbonate is super strong, providing you stability, durability, flexibility and it is the perfect weight. This PC is the same material used in making bullet-proof glass, so you know your skateboard is built to last.

The unique proprietary resin Sunset Skateboards uses has the latest UV inhibitors, giving you extended life outdoors. The Flare LED wheels are the brightest in the industry and will keep on glowing for 100,000 hours. That equates to riding for 24 hours a day for 11.4 years, 18 hours per day for 14.8 years, 12 hours per day 22.8 years or 8 hours per day for 34.2 years. Now that is a lot of lit up riding! You can see the Sunset Skateboard in action in this short video on their website. At Sunset Skateboards, you can build board or buy one of their ready made designs. You can also choose your own wheels andride in style with their super gnarly gear. Be sure to stay current with Sunset Skateboards and follow them on Twitter. One USA reader will win one Sunset Rasta Skateboard ARV $120.00.

Which of these interesting facts about skateboarding did you enjoy most?